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Task Force ILLYRIAN
Task Force ILLYRIAN was a force created by the Chicago Brotherhood of Steel as a response to the growing hostility in the Colorado region from Caesar’s Legion. The task force would become the centre of the so-called Colorado Border War, and was vital in securing victory in the conflict. History Background The rise of Caesar’s Legion had gone largely unnoticed by the Chicago chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel. The two groups were largely unaware of each other’s existence for some time, largely due to geographical distance. In the Brotherhood’s case, their furthest western reach was centred around Cheyanne Mountain and Vault 0, in a region that was otherwise relatively sparsely inhabited. While the Calculator itself had been destroyed at the conclusion of their war, the Brotherhood had maintained the Vault for its remaining manufacturing facilities and technology. Even diminished, they still represented a significant asset. The Brotherhood had little incentive to venture further west. The mountainous terrain and harsh climate would have made further encroachment difficult, while the scattered and low-tech population of the area offered little to them. Recon missions to Denver had suggested that the ruined city was over-run with raiders and feral dogs and still was deeply contaminated from the war. Combined with the other geographical issues raised, the Brotherhood ruled out the idea of taking the city for their own, seeing it as being both a waste of manpower while over-extending their reach. (Especially given how far their territory already extended). Instead, the Brotherhood focused on building up and securing their own territories. The Calculator War had forced them to grow father and faster then expected, straining their resources and leaving their forces stretched out. Over time, the Brotherhood’s culture began to merge with the Tribals and other settlements they had grew from, drifting even further from their roots in the Mojave chapter. In time, their own history and their progenitors became more and more obscured, with myth and legend intermingling with fact. Conversely, Caesar’s Legion had been founded on an ideal of fake history and cultural appropriation, derived from an idealised and deliberately skewed version of Roman society. The Legion took a deliberately expansionist approach, rapidly expanding. However, unlike the Brotherhood who had faced a genocidal, high-tech army, most of the Legion’s foes were simple tribes that posed little actual threat. Furthermore, much of their territory was relatively thinly populated, even by the standards of the Wastelands. The Legion’s conquest of Denver in the late 2270s did not go unnoticed by the Brotherhood, although it took them some time to realise the full extent of what they faced. Initially, the Legion was believed to be a localised force of tribals who had managed to grow to some degree of actual military might. Intelligence missions revealed the truth of the situation, that the Legion was actually a massive empire that was occupying the better part of four pre-war states. While they did not believe that the Legion were, in turn, aware of their existence or full extent, they also concluded that such a discovery was inevitable. In response to this threat, the Brotherhood began a quiet build-up of its forces in their western Colorado reaches. To the best of their knowledge, Denver was the furthest eastern reach of the Legion, and conquering the city had seemingly taken a lot out of their forces. At the same time, the Legion would still be bound by the same issues of terrain and climate that had ruled out their own advance towards the city. Even then, the Brotherhood knew that they could not ignore this threat. Under the command of Paladin Sara Redsky, the Brotherhood began moving more forces towards their frontier, while constructing additional outposts to watch the front. The Brotherhood also continued to monitor Denver; ironically, it was the capture of one such recon mission that lead to the Legion’s discovery of the Brotherhood’s forces. (Although the Legion didn’t understand the distinction between the Chicago and Mojave chapters). Composition Equipment Notable Members Sara Redsky Descended from tribals who joined the Midwest Brotherhood at its foundation, Sara Redsky was raised to become a soldier within their ranks. She never questioned this destiny, and instead embraced it wholeheartedly, excelling in her training. This same dedication served her well in the field as she proved not only to be a capable soldier, but one who was willing to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to protect others. Sara was promoted to Paladin in 2278, and assigned to the Colorado frontier where she was facing off against the nascent Legion. As the threat grew, Redsky was given an effective field promotion and placed in command of what came to be called Task Force ILLYRIAN. In doing such, she was effectively given responsibility for the running of any conflict that emerged, a responsibility that she wholeheartedly embraced. Redsky remained resolute in the face of the Legion’s assault, doing her best to protect her people while also curbing the Legion’s aggression. She was willing to use all weapons that were at her disposal in order to win the conflict, and was not afraid to authorise special operations forces with broad-ranging discretionary powers in order to achieve those goals. At the end of the conflict, Sara Redsky, now promoted to Senior Paladin, opted to remain on the Brotherhood’s western front in order to help contain any further Legion aggression. Sara is married and has two children, and would do anything to protect her family. As a Paladin, Sara Redsky has been issued a suit of Power Armour. In her case, she used a T-60d suit, a design that is otherwise virtually unknown within the Chicago Brotherhood. Her preferred weapon when ‘mounted up’ is a Sunbeam Gatling Laser Cannon. Kirsten Farris A Brotherhood Knight (later promoted to Paladin) Kirsten Farris achieved her position through a combination of skill and happenstance. The illegitimate child of a Brotherhood Paladin and a Tribal woman, Farris used her parentage as a way to aid her career advancement. However, despite having this advantage, she is a capable leader and skilled tactician, and has achieved much on her own merit. Farris proved to have something of an ego and a propensity towards self-aggrandising and promotion. Despite this, she proved to be capable during the Colorado Border War, and was responsible for a number of victories over the Legion. Her escape early in the conflict with key intelligence proved to be valuable to the conflict, and aided in the Brotherhood’s eventual victory. She was promoted to Paladin after the battle of Sommerville Crossing, and took control of Skull Company after Paladin Roy Wolfe’s death. However, despite her skills, many found her attitude and self-promotion to be grating. Following the conflict, Farris was given command of Xiphos Squad, a special recon mission into the Detroit Wasteland. Mary Durant Facepunch A Super Mutant who was transformed by the Enclave, Facepunch wandered east following the organisation’s destruction. Captured by the Midwest Brotherhood, Facepunch was given the choice of joining the organisation, an offer that he chose to take them up on. Inducted into the Brotherhood’s ways, Facepunch became a loyal and dedicated member of the Chicago Brotherhood, serving alongside humans, Ghouls and even other Super Mutants. While some of his habits were hard to change (not eating people, for example), he was steadfastly loyal and began to follow the Brotherhood’s name, even if he didn’t fully understand them. On the Battlefield, Facepunch proved to be a terror, looming over Legion soldiers while wading into their formations without the slightest hint of concern for his own health. He managed to loom large even over his fellow Super Mutants, and served as a spearhead for the Brotherhood’s forces on numerous occasions. At the same time, he would enthusiastically, if somewhat awkwardly, shout Brotherhood battle cries. Ash Wednesday A self-proclaimed ‘raider princess’, Ash Wednesday was the leader of a substantial raider force in Illinois before she was captured by the Brotherhood. Faced with the choice of serving the Brotherhood or being executed, she gladly chose the former. That she learned that her own lieutenants had sold her out to advance their own careers might have informed her decision. As a member of the Brotherhood, Wednesday proved to be only questionably reliable, and wound up being shuffled from unit to unit before winding up in ILLYRIAN’s Gallows Company. Despite being thrown in a penal unit with little chance of being anything but cannon-fodder, Wednesday decided that she was going to make the best of a bad situation. Even though she was looking out for herself, she did her best to try and follow orders, maintain some semblance of discipline and curry favour with her seniors. Above all else, she tried her best to stay alive, regardless of whatever mess she had been thrown into. After Gallows Company was disbanded, she was reassigned to Paladin Moffat’s Viper Company, where she proved to be a capable soldier in her own right. Since then, she has remained within the Brotherhood’s ranks, seeing it as a better and safer route to power. While she did enjoy looting the bodies of her fallen enemies, Ash found the Legion’s currency to be infuriating as it could not be readily exchanged for caps. Category:Groups Category:Brotherhood of Steel